The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-09-04

perhaps was only feeler."
Az matter OF fact, Rossol had NJ this time
entered. In concert with Dolescluge and the
Jaoobin members OF the Commune. into the
conspiracy which eliminated on April 80 In the
arrest OF Cluseret. Rossel Of course supposed
himself to DO playing his own game. not theirs,
and no did manage to obtain the command in
chief. which, had he exercised with efficiency,
he might have transformed Into o Dictator
ship. But at the end Of nine days he had By
incapacity 30 seriously weakened tho defences
OF Paris. and reduced the force under his
orders to such degree Of disintegration. that
he had to take refuge In tho house Of friend
to escape the arrest which was impending.
In reviewing the defensive arrangements
made by Cuseret on his assumption OF the
War Onlco we pointed out that he assigned to
Pole. Dombrowski. the command Of m i'm
portant section OF tho outer circuit Of the forth
fcations. But Dombrowski, like Rossel i'm
aRined himself fitted for the command in chief.
and he very soon began to organize faction.
and to set on foot Vaccinations against his
superior officer. A good deal Of misconception
existed In Paris touching the antecedent ex-
perienoes OF this man, and even the Executive
Committee Of the Commune asserted in proc
lamation that he had been the principal chief
OF tho last Polish Instruction. General under
Garibaldi. and Q devoted champion OF tho Cir
cassians against tho Russians in the war Of the
Caucasus. These misstatements are corrected
by Cluseret. "Dombrowski never was" ho
tells US, "at the head OF the Polish insurrec-
ton. He was not O General under Carl
buldi. nor was he present In any Of
the engagements which took place during the
italian revolution. He was one Of the recruits
got together By Mironowski. who would have
participated in tho war had It not been sud
denly ended by the peace. He may possibly
have been one OF the Polish Captains that Mil
betz. toward the close of the campaign. had
near his person. but unattached to any body
Of soldiers. I knew them all. however. and
have not the faintest recollection Of meeting
Domhrowski. He himself never spoke Of this
campaign as II he had been personally ia
miliar with 1t, thing he would not have
failed to do had he been actually engaged.
knowing that had taken an active part In 1t.
As to the war Of the Caucasus. 1t was In the
ranks Of the Russian army, and nowhere else.
that he served" In other words. all the asser-
tons in the proclamation mentioned (which
on the authority OF that document have since
gained currency in professed accounts OF the
Commune| were erroneous except tho naked
statement that Dombrowski was Pole.
Physically Dombrowski was little thin
man OF fair complexion. His features which
bore the mark OF cunning and Of energy. were
far from being handsome. As to tho second Of
these traits, he pushed 1t to an extreme.
In my long experience Of men whose trade 1t
was to DO energetic, have met but few as
brave as he Dombrowski, as I have said, had
been designated by me to command the In
terror OF Paris. but this post being Ill suited to
his aptitudes. he soon got out OF Tito devote
himself entirely to the defence Of Neuilly.
whore he accomplished marvels With 1885
mon. the maximum Of the effective force which
conflded to him thaving observed that
the moro men he had the less he knew how to
handle them). he held in check the whole First
Army Corps under Gen. Ladmirault who. By the
confession OF MacMahon himself set down In
his official report, renewed every fourth day
the division ordered to fight at Neuilly. Now.
division Is at the lowest, 10000 men. Poor
French army! Poor Generalsp
OF the plans formed by Cluseret for an inner
circle Of Notifications OF which he foresaw that
the Commune would eventually have need.
scarcely any were carried out by Rossel and
Dombrowski. The one defensive work. COM
pleted on the inner line. was species Of barri-
cade running from the Muette Quay to the
Trocadero, and barring an advance from the
salient at the Point de Jour. Cluseret thinks
that this piece OF work. executed by Roselli-
Mollet, would have done honor to Todleben
himself. Had this improvised rampant been
turned to account, It Is Cluseret's conviction
that, even after the Vorsailists had entered
Paris thew could have been long held at bay.
f" Behind this finished section Of the inner line
of defence, 1t would have been possible to COM
pletely neutralize the effects Of the treason Of
the Sixty-fourth Battalion (which had aban-
doned its postl The OCCUPATION Of the Point
A. M-I~ D.
part. Unluckily. Dombrowski was no longer
himself A command too extensive had ruined
him. He who had defended the whole Of
Neuilly with 1900 men when he was
but General Of division. with lin
tied field OF duty, could not, as Com
manding General. with thrice as many SOL
diers. hold an impregnable position" At this
ultimate crisis In the fate Of tho Commune.
when everything depended on the command
er's insight and energy. Dombrowski saw
nothing and did nothing. Not through treason.
but incompetence; just what foresaw took
place. An excellent Colonel or Brigadier-Gen-
eral, Dombrowski made lamentable Com
mander-in. Chief. and the National Guards.
discouraged, feeling themselves no longer led.
kept straying back to Paris In small groups Of
ten or twenty. There were still enough
left. however. since MacMahon took 1900
prisoners at the Trocadero. Had Dom
browskl put himself at the head Of these
1900 men. to prevent. at all hazards. tho
occupation OF the viaduct and the line Of
the Muette Quay. MacMahon's ostensible sue
cess would have been changed into disaster
The occupation Of the viaduct was equivalent
to that OF the loft bank Of the Seine"
OF Delescluze, and OF the part he played In
the Commune. his former colleague speaks
with a severity untempered by tho circum-
stances OF his death. shall be told should
forget the Jacobin despot, to remember but
the hero who died upon barricadep Without
stopping to observe that balls strike blindly,
would say that am writing for the people and
for their instruction; that deeds alone are in
and that individuals whoever they
may be, whether sheltered by the tomb or
shielded BY misfortune. do not cease on that
account to be accountable for their deeds to
the people and to history. To die we'll may be
but to live well. or, in other words.
to fulfil your duty, is everything. Sentiment
may sway private man. but 1t Is the business
Of public man to be controlled by reason